Brown butter and systems and methods for the continuous production thereof

ABSTRACT

A system and method for the continuous production of brown butter involves concentrating butter while retaining solids non-fat in the butter, and continuously transferring and heating the concentrated butter to cause the solids non-fat in the butter to react in a maillard reaction to form a brown butter product. The system may use one or more of a heating vessel, an evaporator and a reaction vessel to form the brown butter in the continuous process. A brown butter product derived from butter includes reacted solids non-fat particulates from a maillard reaction suspended by nascent fat crystals nucleated about the reacted solids non-fat particulates and by large fat crystal structures joined to the nascent fat crystals.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to brown butter compositions and systemsand methods for the continuous production of brown butter.

BACKGROUND

Butter preparation methods represent some of the oldest techniques forutilizing fat components that are found in milk. Butter manufacture hasbeen accomplished in one form or another for over 4500 years. Butterproduction techniques generally evolved from an individual farm activityto a factory-based technique with the introduction of milk poolingsystems for creamery operation in the 1870s. Later advances in fatquantification techniques, pasteurization, refrigeration, and bacterialculture usage further advanced the art of butter production. Advances inbutter production technology helped make butter a staple item in thekitchen. Certain components of butter, such as protein and lactose, givedesirable browning characteristics to baked goods.

In some cases, butter may be used to produce brown butter in the kitchenby slowly melting whole butter in a saucepan over heat to cook off waterand to brown the remaining milk solids in the reduced butter. Brownbutter typically has a nutty flavor and aroma and is brown in color.However, making brown butter in a saucepan is difficult because thesolids can burn during the browning process due to the browning reactionincreasing in intensity to cause scorching, which gives the butternegative organoleptic qualities such as a charred taste and a blackappearance. Cookbooks commonly warn chefs to continuously watch thebutter in the saucepan and immediately remove the butter from heat, butnonetheless, even skilled chefs commonly burn butter when attempting thebrowning process.

SUMMARY

In view of the foregoing, provided herein are brown butter products,systems and methods for making brown butter products from butter andother dairy-based products.

According to certain implementations, a method of forming a brown butterproduct, includes heating a starting composition containing fat,protein, sugar and a starting moisture content under vacuum pressure ina first environment, which causes a portion of the moisture to vaporizewhile retaining the fat, protein and sugar to form a concentratedcomposition. The concentrated composition includes a reduced moisturecontent relative to the starting moisture content and a moisturevariation that ranges up to about 3 percent. The concentratedcomposition is continuously transferred to a second environment andheated to cause the protein and the sugar in the concentratedcomposition to react in a maillard reaction to form the brown butterproduct with reacted solids non-fat particulates.

In other implementations, a system for the continuous production ofbrown butter includes a heating vessel adapted to heat a startingcomposition containing fat, protein, sugar and a starting moisturecontent. An evaporator device continuously receives the heated startingcomposition and forms a concentrated composition by causing a portion ofthe moisture in the starting material to vaporize while retaining thefat, protein and sugar. The concentrated composition includes a reducedmoisture content relative to the starting moisture content and acontrolled moisture content within a range of about 3 percent. Areaction vessel is adapted to continuously receive the concentratedbutter and causes the concentrated butter to react in a maillardreaction to produce a brown butter product with reacted solids non-fatparticulates.

In yet another implementation, a brown butter product derived frombutter includes reacted solids non-fat particulates from a maillardreaction suspended by nascent fat crystals nucleated about the reactedsolids non-fat particulates and by large fat crystal structures joinedto the nascent fat crystals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 illustrates a processing system that may be used in forming brownbutter according to certain implementations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Brown butter products provided herein may be used in applications suchas the preparation of frostings, in baking items and cooking. The brownbutter products provided herein may be formed from a startingcomposition such as butter containing about 80 percent fat, cream, andoptionally salt, or other dairy-based compositions containing fats,proteins and sugars, without receiving intermediate compositions duringthe production process. Processes of forming the brown butter productsfrom the starting composition are in contrast to processes of formingbrown butter that involve combining multiple compositions, such aslipids, aqueous solutions, powdered butterfat and milk powder at variousstages of the brown butter production process.

As provided above, the starting compositions may include a number ofdairy-based products containing moisture, fat and protein. The term“butter” may be used in accordance with labeling requirements ofregulatory authorities in the United States, such as the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.), in which butter has aparticularized definition in that it is made exclusively from milkand/or cream and may each contain additional coloring matter and salt.In addition, under the U.S.D.A. regulations, butter may not contain lessthan 80 weight percent milkfat (also referred to as butterfat). Inaddition to containing about 80 weight percent milkfat (e.g., from about80 to 85 weight percent or from about 80 to 81 weight percent), thebutter derived from cream or milk contains about 1 to 5 or about 3 to 5percent solids non-fat (e.g., protein, lactose, salt and combinationsthereof), a total solids content of between 83 to about 85 percent, andabout 14 to 18 percent or preferably about 15 to 17 percent moisture.Alternatively, butter containing about 70 to about 90 percent fat and upto about 27 percent moisture and the balance solids may be provided as astarting composition.

Implementations of forming brown butter from the above startingcompositions may be practiced using the processing system 100 depictedby the schematic of FIG. 1. The processing system 100 may include aheating vessel 110, a pre-heating vessel 111, a first transfer pump 112,an evaporator device 115 including a heat exchanger 120, a vapor dome125 with a separator device 130, a vacuum pump 135, a second transferpump 140, a reaction vessel 150, one or more cooling vessels 160 and apackaging and storage system 170. The processing system 100 may allowfor the continuous production of brown butter products.

In the processing system 100, butter or another dairy-based product maybe provided as the starting composition and be melted or simply heatedto a temperature of about 120° F. to about 140° F. in the heating vessel110. The heated, liquefied starting composition may optionally betransferred and further heated using a pre-heating vessel 111, which mayheat the liquefied starting composition to a temperature of about 160°F. or up to about 212° F. Alternatively, the heating vessel 110 may heatthe liquefied starting composition up to these elevated temperatures.When the starting composition reaches a temperature of about 212° F.,the starting composition may begin to concentrate such as throughboiling. The introduction of the starting composition in the heatingvessel 110, the pre-heating vessel 111 or both, may be providedcontinuously or periodically without interrupting the production ofstarting composition in the processing system 100, described furtherbelow.

The heating vessel 110 may be configured with an open top and may beprovided as a kettle or a jacketed tank where water or steam may becirculated around the vessel holding the starting composition forgradual heating. The pre-heating vessel 111 may be a heat exchanger suchas a plate heat exchanger and may be adapted to receive liquefiedstarting composition from the heating vessel 110 and provide furtherheating.

The heated starting composition having a temperature of between about130° F. to about 165° F., or up to about 212° F., and a variablemoisture content is transferred to the evaporator device 115 using afirst transfer pump 112. The first transfer pump 112 may be configuredas a positive pump, may operate continuously and may transfer the heatedstarting composition at a controlled rate.

The evaporator device 115 may include a heat exchanger 120, a vapor dome125 and a separator device 130. The heat exchanger 120 is joined to theseparator device 130 by way of the vapor dome 125, and the vacuum pump135 may be adapted to exert a slight vacuum and reduce the pressure inthe evaporator device 115. For example, the vacuum pump 135 may(pressurize) the evaporator device 115 to about −19 inHg to −26 inHg orto about −23 inHg to −25 inHg. The vacuum pressure within the evaporatordevice 115 may help pull moisture from and facilitate heating of thestarting composition.

In the evaporator device 115, the heated starting composition enters theheat exchanger 120 from the first transfer pump 112. While entering theheat exchanger 120, the heated starting composition may be processed byfurther heating under agitation and stirring to cause boiling andinitiate concentrating of the starting composition. As the level of theconcentrating starting composition in the heat exchanger 120 rises, theconcentrating composition enters the vapor dome 125 of the evaporatordevice 115, which may be provided as an upper chamber of the evaporatordevice 115.

The heat exchanger 120 may be configured as a scraped surface heatexchanger and may be formed as a lower chamber of the pressurizedevaporator device 115. In this example, the evaporator device 115 may bea scraped surface evaporator device. The evaporator device 115 contentsmay be heated and agitated under vacuum pressure as heating media suchas steam or hot water flows between a heat transfer wall and aninsulated jacket. Mechanical agitation may be provided by revolvingblades that provide conduction and convection conditions fortransferring heat. In some implementations, processing may befacilitated by centrifugal action through rotation of revolving bladesand rotors in the heat exchanger 120. During such processing, thestarting composition concentrates as its moisture is caused to evaporateor flash off.

In alternative implementations, the heat exchanger 120 may be configuredas a thin film evaporator or a plate evaporator adapted to cause themoisture in the starting composition to evaporate. For example, the heatexchanger 120 configured as a thin film evaporator may be adapted toheat the starting composition in thermal sections of the evaporator,while rotating blades spread the starting composition over the heatedsurfaces of the thermal sections. This may cause film turbulence in thestarting composition resulting in high heat transfer rapid vaporizationof the moisture in the starting composition. In this example, the thinfilm evaporator may be designed to allow the starting composition toflow by gravity through the thin film evaporator configured as an upperchamber and a concentrated composition may flow to a lower chamber andexit into one or more of the vapor dome 125 and separator device 130adapted to remove the moisture in the form of vapor (e.g., water vapor),described further below.

In further implementations, the heat exchanger 120 may be provided asmultiple heat exchangers adapted to drive off moisture within startingcomposition. For example, multiple heat exchangers may be connected inseries, which may be useful for starting compositions having a highermoisture content. In this example, one heat exchanger may be adapted toreceive the starting composition from an upstream device, such as thetransfer pump 112, heat the starting composition to initiateconcentrating and deliver the concentrating starting composition toanother heat exchanger. The additional heat exchanger may be adapted tofurther heat and concentrate the received composition and either deliverthe composition to the vapor dome 125 or to another heat exchanger forfurther processing.

Turning to the vapor dome 125 of the evaporator device 115, theconcentrating starting composition from the heat exchanger 120 continuesto concentrate upon entering the vapor dome 125 and the moisture vaporsseparate therefrom. Movement of the concentrating starting compositioninto the vapor dome 125 may be due to the starting composition beingmechanically conveyed through the heat exchanger 120 (e.g., throughcentripetal force or a mechanical scraper, wiper, agitator or the like)and may be facilitated by the vacuum pressure. Movement of the moisturefrom the concentrating starting composition to form a concentratedcomposition may be facilitated through vacuum pressure, throughconvection, or both. The vapor dome 125 defines an area that enables thevaporized moisture to rise above and separate from the concentrated fats(e.g., butter oil, concentrated butter or ghee) and solids in theconcentrated composition. In some implementations, the vapor dome 125may form an upper chamber of the evaporator device 115, for example,when a lower chamber defines the heat exchanger 120.

A separator device 130 may be coupled to an outlet of the vapor dome 125and may receive the concentrated composition and the separated moisturevapors. The concentrated composition may flow by gravity from the vapordome 125 into the separator device 130, while the moisture vapors andany volatile components entering the separator device 130 from the vapordome 125 may be vented from the separator device 130 and caused to exitthe processing system 100. In some implementations, the moisture vaporsmay be cooled and condensed while exiting the processing system 100. Inthe separator device 130, the final moisture content of the concentratedcomposition may be controlled within a variation range of from about 1to about 3 percent, and the moisture content within the concentratedcomposition may be reduced relative to the moisture content of thestarting composition.

The separator device 130 may be configured as a vessel that enables theconcentrated composition to flow by gravity to an outlet of theseparator device 130 coupled to the positive pump 140. In addition, theseparator device 130 may be configured to enable the moisture to bevented without disrupting the flow of the concentrated compositiontowards the outlet. In some implementations, the separator device inlet130 joined to the outlet of the vapor dome 125 may define an openingthat enables the concentrated composition and the moisture vapors tosimultaneously enter the separator device 130 from the vapor dome 125.

It has been discovered that concentrating the butter in the evaporatordevice 115 provides a more thorough concentration of the milkfat andsolids non-fat and better removal of moisture from the startingcomposition compared to batch processing. For example, the rangevariation of the moisture content of the concentrated composition may becontrolled at about 3 percent, a variation of about 1 to about 3 percentor a variation of about 1 to 2 percent upon reaching the separatordevice 130. Using butter as an example starting composition, the totalmoisture content of concentrated butter within the separator device 130may be up to about 6 percent with a moisture content within a controlledrange with a variation of about 1 percent (e.g., a variation of about0.25 to 1.25 percent moisture), a variation of about 2 percent (e.g., avariation of about 0.5 to 2.5 percent moisture) or a variation of about3 percent (e.g., a variation of about 1 to 4 percent moisture), with thebalance of the concentrated butter formed of solids such as milkfat(e.g., about 93 to about 95 percent) and solids non-fat such as proteinand/or lactose (e.g., at about 4 to 6 percent). This controlledseparation of moisture and volatiles ensures that only compositionshaving a desired moisture content and ingredient profile are used forfurther processing in the formation of the brown butter products.

By separating the starting composition from the concentrated compositionin the evaporator device 115, the higher moisture content startingcomposition may periodically or continuously be transferred into theheat exchanger 120 of the evaporator device 115, without disrupting theflow of the concentrated composition into and out of the separatordevice 130. This facilitates a continuous process of preparing thecomposition for browning.

Further, by continuously moving the starting composition and theconcentrated composition within the evaporator device 115, such as bythe continuous flow of the starting composition into the device, byagitating and scraping using blades and rotors in the heat exchanger 120and causing the concentrated composition to continuously flow throughthe separator device 130 by gravity flow, the concentrating startingcomposition and concentrated composition is prevented from depositing onthe walls of the device and from subsequently charring.

In some implementations, the solids non-fat (e.g., proteins and sugars)in the composition may begin to partially brown in a maillard reactionin the vapor dome 125 or in the separator device 130 of the evaporatordevice 115, which may occur upon the concentrated composition reaching atemperature of about 285° F. to 315° F.

Turning to the transfer pump and the reaction vessel 150, theconcentrated composition within the separator device 130 may flow to thereaction vessel 150 via a second transfer pump 140, which may beconfigured as a positive pump. The second transfer pump 140 may operatecontinuously and provide the concentrated composition to the reactionvessel 150 at a controlled rate. The concentrated composition may have atemperature of between about 145° F. to about 230° F. at the secondtransfer pump 140.

The reaction vessel 150 may be configured as a scraped surface heatexchanger and may be adapted to heat the concentrated composition up toa reaction temperature of about 285° F. to about 315° F., or from about295° F. to about 300° F., to form a reacted composition, in which theconcentrated solids (e.g., protein and sugars) in the composition arefried within oil to cause a maillard reaction. This can be done with orwithout back pressure on the composition in the reaction vessel 150. Thereacted composition thereby forms a brown butter product with reactedsolids-nonfat particulates and a moisture content that is substantiallythe same as the moisture content of the concentrated composition.

In some implementations, a temperature differential in the reactionvessel 150 between its walls and center may be relatively low to enablethe maillard reaction to occur throughout the reaction vessel 150.However, in some implementations, a substantial portion of the maillardreaction may occur on the surface of the walls of the reaction vessel150 where the temperature differential is the highest.

In some implementations, where the concentrated solids non-fat havepartially undergone a maillard reaction in the vapor dome 125 or theseparator device 130 of the evaporator device 115, the concentratedsolids non-fat may further undergo a maillard reaction to form thereacted solids-nonfat particulates in the reaction vessel 150.

By the reaction vessel 150 receiving only the concentrated compositionwith a narrow moisture range from the separator device 130, this ensuresthat the maillard reaction of the solids non-fat only occurs withincompositions having the desired fat (e.g., milkfat), solids non-fat(e.g., protein and sugars) and moisture content range. It has beendiscovered that due to the narrow variation in the moisture range withinthe concentrated composition, the reaction vessel 150 may be operatedunder conditions (e.g., temperatures, pressures and flow rates) that areoptimal for the proteins and the sugars to undergo the maillardreaction. This also enables the brown butter product to be formed in acontrolled, continuous process.

After forming the brown butter product in the reaction vessel 150, thebrown butter product is transferred to a cooling vessel 160 such as ascraped surface heat exchanger providing a controlled coolingenvironment where the product may initially be rapidly cooled fromreaction temperatures and then gradually cooled. Rapid cooling mayinitiate the formation of nascent fat crystals that nucleate at thesurface of the reacted solids-nonfat particulates. The brown butterproduct may be further and/or gradually cooled to promote formation oflarge fat crystals that join to and surround the smaller nascent fatcrystals. For example, gradual cooling to promote large fat crystalgrowth may be to a temperature of about 100° F. to 50° F., or from about80° F. to about 50° F. Cooling the brown butter product, which may be inthe presence of agitation, suspends the reacted solids non-fatparticulates through the crystal formation step while maintaining theproduct in a flowable or pumpable state.

In some implementations, the brown butter product may be cooled by thecooling vessel 160 to between about 70° F. and about 80° F., forexample, for subsequent packaging in a tub. In other implementations,the brown butter product may be cooled to temperatures between about 50°F. to about 60° F., for example, for subsequent stick or printproduction. In this example, the system 100 may include a pin mixerconnected to or integrated with the cooling vessel 160.

In further implementations, cooling vessels may be connected in seriesto enable a multiple-step cooling processes. For example, one coolingvessel may receive the reacted butter product and cool the product toabout 100° F., and a second cooling vessel may receive the product atabout 100° F. and further cool to between about 80° F. and about 50° F.

Cooling the brown butter product using one or more cooling vessels 160may yield a plastic brown butter product having the desired flavor andtexture of brown butter.

In some implementations, following the brown butter product formation inthe reaction vessel 150 (using any of the dairy-based startingcompositions), or following cooling in the cooling vessel 160, the brownbutter product may be combined with bulking agents, water, cream,buttermilk, other foodstuffs and so on, in order to provide an array ofproducts containing brown butter. Prior to the solids non-fat in theconcentrated composition undergoing a maillard reaction in the reactionvessel 150 to form the brown butter product however, the startingcomposition in its various processing states, up to the reactedcomposition, may be the sole ingredient in the processing system 100.Further, as the starting composition is processed through the processingsystem 100, the solids non-fat may be retained with the oil, therebyenabling the solids non-fat to undergo the maillard reaction within theoil.

After cooling in the cooling vessel 160, the brown butter product may betransferred to a packaging and storage system 170, which may beconfigured using conventional packaging, transfer and storage equipment.In some implementations, after cooling, and prior to packaging, thebrown butter product may be texturized in a texturizer, such as a pinmixer. In addition, nitrogen gas may also be introduced into the brownbutter product to produce a finer, smoother product.

In system 100, some or all of the devices may be connected in series.For example, each of the devices in the processing system 100 may beoutfitted with one or more conduits, pumps, valves, and so on, thatprovide a physical connection to an adjacent upstream and downstreamdevice and enables the transfer of contents (e.g., butter in the variousphases described above, moisture and non-condensable gasses) between thedevices or out of the system. By connecting the devices in theprocessing system 100, this may enable the starting composition to betransferred through the processing system 100 without interruption andwithout addition of additional components to the composition during thecontinuous formation of the brown butter product in a single passthrough the system 100 without re-circulating the brown butter productback through system 100. One or more components of the system 100 may beclosed devices, which may enable the butter in its various phases to besubject to elevated temperatures and pressures within individuallycontrolled environments in order to gradually cause the butter toconcentrate and to react to form the brown butter product. In addition,effluents from devices in the processing system 100 may serve asinfluents for a downstream device. For example, the effluent ofconcentrated butter from the separator device 130 may serve as aninfluent for the reaction vessel 150. However, as may be appreciated inview of the foregoing, the influent starting composition entering theheat exchanger 120 of the evaporator device 115 may be transformedthrough evaporation into a concentrated composition and serve as theeffluent from the evaporator device 115.

Further, one or more devices in the processing system 100 may optionallybe removed or alternatively may be duplicated and provided in parallelor in series. For example, the heating vessel 110 may optionally beremoved or replaced in favor of the pre-heating vessel 111. In anotherexample, the cooling vessels 160 may be duplicated and used in parallelor in series to cool the brown butter product.

Brown butter products that are derived solely from butter, are dairyproducts that may be labeled with the sole ingredient as “butter” andmay be considered a butter-based product. For example, the brown butterproduct formed from 80 percent milkfat butter as the startingcomposition may have a final composition of between 94 to 99 percenttotal solids, more preferably between 97 to 99 percent total solids, andmost preferably between 98 to 99 percent total solids, with betweenabout 1 to 6 percent moisture, more preferably between about 1 to 3percent moisture, and most preferably between about 1 to 2 percentmoisture and with a controlled range of moisture within about 1 percent,2 percent or about 3 percent.

It has been found that brown butter products produced using the methodsand systems provided herein result in reacted solids non-fat particlesbeing finely dispersed and suspended through the brown butter product,and have a particle size that give the product a desirable texture,smoother mouthfeel, along with a nutty flavor and aroma. Table 1 belowillustrates the differences in particle size distribution between stovetop-made (e.g., scratch) brown butter and brown butter producedaccording to three test runs following the processes provided herein.

TABLE 1 Median Surface 10th 50th 90th Value area Percentile PercentilePercentile Sample (um) (m²/cc) (um) (um) (um) Stove top- 154 0.09 35.1141 286 made Test Run 1 73.3 0.15 19.8 64.9 137 Test Run 2 57.7 0.1619.6 54.1 99.4 Test Run 3 41.4 0.25 13 37.6 72.9

With reference to Table 1, the particle size distribution decreasedsignificantly for test runs 1-3 compared to the stove top-made sample.The particle sizes produced during the test runs have approximatelyone-third the size compared to the reacted solids non-fat particulatesproduced using the stove top-made sample. The smaller particulate sizesresult in a significant increase in surface area of the reacted solidsnon-fat particulates compared to that provided by the stove top-madeparticulates. With a larger surface area available, more reaction areais provided for nucleation of nascent fat crystals on the reacted solidsnon-fat particulates. Further, because the brown butter product may beboth rapidly and gradually cooled, nascent fat crystals may nucleateabout the reacted solids non-fat particulates and larger fat crystalsmay adhere to the nascent fat crystals in order to suspend the reactedsolids non-fat particulates in the brown butter product. This is incontrast to stove top-made brown butter, which rapidly cools in anuncontrolled environment from maillard reaction temperatures to roomtemperatures or to refrigeration temperatures, and as a result, solidsnon-fat particulates do not suspend evenly within the brown butter andtend to settle to the bottom of the stove top-made product.

In some implementations, a variation of course and fine particulates mayprovide the brown butter with a desirable flavor, texture andappearance; and in some instances, larger particulates may be desirabledue to their resemblance in appearance to stove top-made brown butter.However, the reacted solids non-fat particulates having various sizesmay be suspended in the brown butter product using the above-describedmethods.

Although the present disclosure provides references to preferredembodiments, persons skilled in the art will recognize that changes maybe made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of forming a brown butter product,comprising: heating a starting composition containing fat, protein,sugar and a starting moisture Content under vacuum pressure in a firstenvironment to cause a portion of the moisture to vaporize whileretaining the fat, protein and sugar to form a concentrated composition,the concentrated composition having a reduced moisture content relativeto the starting moisture content and a moisture variation ranging up toabout 3 percent; and continuously transferring the concentratedcomposition to a second environment and heating the concentratedcomposition to cause the protein and the sugar in the concentratedcomposition to react in a maillard reaction to form the brown butterproduct with reacted solids non-fat particulates.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein concentrated composition includes a moisture content of lessthan about 6 percent and the brown butter product includes a moisturecontent that is substantially the same as the concentrated composition.3. The method of claim 2, wherein the starting composition comprisesbutter.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the brown butter product isderived solely from butter.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein theconcentrated composition is heated to a temperature of between about285° F. to about 315° F. to cause the maillard reaction.
 6. The methodof claim 1, further comprising suspending the reacted solids non-fatparticulates in the brown butter product.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the reacted solids non-fat particulates are suspended by coolingthe brown butter product from a reaction temperature at which thecomposition reacts in the maillard reaction to about 50° F. to about 80°F.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to concentrating, thestarting composition includes from about 81 to about 85 percent totalsolids, and wherein the brown butter product includes from about 94 toabout 99 percent total solids.
 9. A brown butter product formed by themethod of claim
 1. 10. A system for the continuous production of brownbutter, the system comprising: a heating vessel adapted to heat astarting composition containing fat, protein, sugar and a startingmoisture content; an evaporator device adapted to continuously receivethe heated starting composition and form a concentrated composition bycausing a portion of the moisture in the starting material to vaporizewhile retaining the fat, protein and sugar, wherein the concentratedcomposition includes a reduced moisture content relative to the startingmoisture content and a controlled moisture content within a range ofabout 3 percent; and a reaction vessel adapted to continuously receivethe concentrated butter and cause the concentrated butter to react in amaillard reaction to produce a brown butter product with reacted solidsnon-fat particulates.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the evaporatordevice is configured to concentrate the starting composition in a vacuumpressurized environment.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein theevaporator device includes a scraped surface heat exchanger.
 13. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the evaporator device includes a separatordevice configured to separate the vaporized moisture from theconcentrated composition.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein thereaction vessel is configured to heat the concentrated composition to atemperature of between about 285° F. to about 315° F. to cause themaillard reaction.
 15. The system of claim 10, wherein the heatingvessel is configured to continuously transfer the butter to theevaporator device.
 16. The system of claim 10, further comprising atleast one cooling vessel configured to receive the brown butter productfrom the reaction vessel and to cool the brown butter product to atemperature of between about 50° F. to about 80° F.
 17. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the system initially receives the concentratedcompositions as butter, the butter including from about 81 to about 85percent total solids and about 15 to about 19 percent moisture, andwherein the brown butter product includes from about 94 to about 99percent total solids and from about 1 to about 6 percent moisture.
 18. Abrown butter product derived from butter, the brown butter productcomprising reacted solids non-fat particulates from a maillard reactionsuspended by nascent fat crystals nucleated about the reacted solidsnon-fat particulates and by large fat crystal structures joined to thenascent fat crystals.
 19. The brown butter product of claim 18, whereinthe product includes from about 94 to about 99 percent total solids andfrom about 1 to about 6 percent moisture.